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February 27th thoughts | Souk Pictures

2.27.2010

I am very sad to say that 2 months from today I will be sitting in class in Provo. I don't want to think about this too much because I am really enjoying myself here in the Holy Land. I have met some really amazing people and had some wonderful experiences. I can't believe that it is almost March. Time is flying by before my eyes.

Just some thoughts:
-I love Fridays at the Center for 3 reasons. 1) Cold cut Fridays. YUM! For lunch we get to make our own sandwiches with delicious bread. I don't know why, but for some reason these sandwiches are amazing. 2) Humanitarian Aid. On Friday's if we want we can sign up to make Hygiene kits. I love it! I’ve done it every week possible. We set up some killer assembly lines and get down to work. We can whip out like 4000 hygiene kits in like 2 hours. We sing great songs or chat while we're working hard. It is so fun. I wish there was something exactly like this in Provo. I seriously love it. 3) Yesterday for the third time I have gone out to the city on Friday and got soaking wet. Friday's are kind of funny here because for a lot of people it is the start of the Sabbath so a lot of the stores or shops close early. And we're not allowed out of the center until 3. So going out on Fridays is tricky. Even though it is rainy and most of the places are closed or closing down I still go out. I try to go out as much as I can.

^^At the Souk on Shabbat^^

-I love going to church here. We have sacrament meeting in the beautiful auditorium with the best view possible of the Old City (these old ladies at the Philharmonic concert told us they thought our view was the best). I always make sure to sit where I have a great view of the Dome of the Rock. Each week before Sacrament meeting the choir sings a prelude song and it really invites the spirit. I decided not to be in the choir because this means that I have an hour by myself between breakfast and church. I love sitting out on my patio and reading scriptures or writing in my journal. Our Branch President has been teaching a temple prep class and even though I took it in my ward last year, I thought it couldn't hurt to go to this one. I love it. Relief Society is also great. Our Relief Society President is from Bethlehem. She once told us about how she came to a knowledge of the gospel. She had to go all the way to Provo, Utah to learn about a gospel that has its origins in her homeland. It was a great lesson to me about how it is the events that took place here, not the location that matters most.

-I love my Old Testament class. I am very sad that it is ending this week. I have learned so much about the scriptures. Brother Emmett has been a great teacher. He is a geography teacher at BYU and therefore has really helped me to better understand how the places in the stories we read would have affected the people who lived there (ex. Down to Jericho, up to Jerusalem…). But on top of this, his personal stories have really touched me and will stay with me throughout my life. Even though I am very sad to see my Old Testament class end I am also very excited to start learning about the New Testament.

-At the beginning of the semester they gave us a map of the Old City. I love going to different places and checking them off the list. In a way I feel like I am conquering the city. I love how I can go out with anyone in our group and have a good time. We're required to go out in groups of at least 3. So it's been fun to try to go out with a variety of different people and to talk to them and get to know them better. It's hard to imagine not seeing these people every day. It will sure be weird.

Well that's all I have for right now, but I just thought it would be good to write a blog post this evening since I don't have very much else going on.